Hello and welcome to Nar I Daily News analysis my name is abijit sasto and today is 10th February 2024 and let’s have a brief Overlook on the topics that we are going to discuss here first is can Preamble be amended keeping date intact asked Supreme Court this article is from
Page number 10 the Hindu Delhi Edition and this article is discussing over Preamble and its amenability apart from these we’ll also be discussing some of the keywords which are associated with our Preamble because it’s maybe there is a possibility that it can be asked in prelims as well as main
Examination from page number eight there is a topic mandal Mand and now Market this article is discussing about three important personalities who had played a vital role in our economy society as well as politics third is from page number 11 fugitives will be extradited says Finance Minister who are FES and what
Are the legal Provisions that can ensure these fugitives extradition next is India can purchase natural gas at below market price so what is natural gas how we can extract natural gas what are the issues associated with natural gas and how we can ensure that India can purchase natural gas at below market
Price or below international market price that will be discussed and last is bits in pieces means bilateral investment treaties what are these treaties what are the challenges associated with these bilateral invest treaties and how we can improve the situation these all these things will be discussed here and after
That we’ll practice some prelims and Mains questions as well so let’s start our discussion so the first article for today’s discussion is can Preamble be amended keeping date intact asks Supreme Court this article talks about two important thing one is preamble of our Constitution and second is a Supreme
Court case the Supreme Court case is challenging the validity of amendments in the Preamble done by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment act we’ll be discussing these things in a little bit later but most important thing here is the preamble preamble is inalienable part of our constitution tion right and this constitution is a political
Document and this is also a socio social or socioeconomic document how this is a political document because this constitution tells us how or who should rule the society who should govern the society first second what should be the roles and responsibility of the government third what should be the fundamental
Rights or other constitutional rights should be given to the people so that they can prevent themselves from the whims and fancies of any government right so that is why this constitution is a political document this is a social or socioeconomic document because firstly it represents our history specifically our struggle against the
Colonialism second it talks about how Society ought to be for example what should be the status of institution in our society specifically the religion what should be the status of religion how religion should be placed in our society other thing third is how we can maintain unity in a
Diverse country like India right so that is why this constitution is also a socioeconomic document right why this is important for our upsc examination so firstly how we maintain unity in diversity in India and our constitution is one of the most important factor to maintain unity in diverse country like
India so there is a topic in Gs paper one Salient features of Indian Society within which we see a subtopic unity in diversity so that is why this article is important this topic is important second is secularism our constitution or our Preamble talks about secularism it entails the secularism right in Gs paper
2 there is a topic Indian constitution historical underpinning Evolution and features so both Evolution and features is directly related with this article amendments 42nd constitutional amendment is important and significant provisions and basic structure how basic structure is also involved we’ll be looking right so let’s understand the importance of
This whole topic through a previous year question in preliminary examination upsc in 2013 asked this question economic justice as one of the objectives of Indian constitution objective objective means that is in shrined in our Preamble right in of the Indian constitution has been provided in Preamble and directive
Principles of State policy that is dpsp right the fundamental rights and the dpsp and none of the above right in Mains examination in 2016 upsc asked this question discuss each adjective attached to the word Republic in the Preamble are they defendable in the present circumstances so that we need to
Discuss here right what is the context Supreme Court in recent Case Case by subramanyam Swami is a very prominent leader and Economist and he sought to removal of the words socialist and secular the Supreme Court observed that whether the Preamble of the Constitution should be or could be
Amended without altering the date of adoption that is 26th November of 1949 so this was the case and that is why they are proceeding with the case firstly we have to understand the Preamble what is preamble preamble is an introductory statement introductory statement which talks about the objectives and
Philosophies so you can take analogy from preface of a particular book that you are uh reading so preface talks about what you can expect in the book right so that is how Preamble is also an introductory statement which clarifies the objectives and philosophies of a particular document right this idea of
Preamble which should be attached with the constitution of a particular country this was started by American Constitution so American Constitution was the first to begin with this concept of Preamble and later on many countries adopted this trend right India also adopted Preamble inspired by American Constitution and Indian Preamble
Contains the summary or Essence of the constitution in the Preamble itself right right there is a prominent jurist name as palala and according to palala our Preamble is an identity card of our constitution because it gives summary or Essence of our constitution right so let’s read the Preamble
Itself we the people of India people of India it’s not talking about a particular monarchy it’s not talking about a particular King or any government it talks about we the people of India so the ultimate power lies within the hands of the people of India also people of India is
Giving legitimacy to our constitution so we the people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a so so say the re so means Sovereign socialist secular Democratic and Republic what is Sovereign Sovereign intels two concepts one is India is Independent India is free from any other entity right second thing
Is India is capable of handling its own Affairs whether it’s internal Affair or any external Affair so we don’t entertain any kind of interference either in Internal Affairs of India or in external Affairs of India so this is sovereignity what is socialism and what is secularism we’ll be looking in a
Little bit later what is democratic Democratic means two things one is people elect their own representative people elect their own government right first thing and second thing popular control or collective decision making process right so this is democracy or Democratic and last is Republic Republic also incorporates two concept one is the
Head of state is elected and not nominated or not this position is not hereditary so it’s against any monarchy right it’s antagonistic to monarchy and we talk about election of of head of states right also there is no kind of privilege in any public office right so we should
Not promote or we are not promoting any privilege in case of public offices right and to secure to all its citizens jle EF justice social economic and political Justice what is justice so providing equal opportunity and without discrimination L stands for Liberty Liberty means two things one is absence of any outside
Constraints and second is providing environment so that people can achieve their full potential right what is equality equality stands for absence of any privileges right and what about fraternity fraternity means Brotherhood right so Liberty of thought expression belief faith and worship equality of status and opportunity and to promote
Among them all fraternity assuring the Dignity of individual and unity and integrity of the nation in our constituent assembly this 26th day of November 1949 do hereby adopt Ina and give to ourselves this constitution so this is our Preamble right let’s understand some of the historical facts of Preamble
Related to the Preamble there is an objective resolution this objective resolution represented the aspirations of constitution makers right so the Constitution makers how they expected or how they envisaged Indian Society right so this was there in the objective resolution drafted and moved by JL Neu or Pandit Neu right and on 22nd January
1947 it was unanimously passed by our constituent assembly right later on on 42nd Constitutional Amendment act with the help of this act three words were added to our Preamble which were not in the original document what were those first was socialist so socialist word was not there in the
Original Preamble or the objective resolution but later with the help of 42nd Constitutional Amendment act it was added what is socialist or what is socialism to understand socialism first understand this that we need resources for the survival right so people need resources for the survival
But as an individual we are not able to control all the resources which are necessary for our survival right for example I cannot create building for by my own right I cannot make food by my own right if if I if I’m teaching you so these computers or these uh gadgets
Cannot be prepared or cannot be made by me right so for these resources or to control these resources we need social relation ship or we came into social relationship to control the resources right who should control the resource and what should be the relationship between people these are the two basic
Question in a particular economy right or in a particular social relationship right and for this there are two basic principles one is capitalism another is communism capitalism says that resources should be controlled by private individuals and as per their contribution to the social relationship or this whole society these resources
Should be allocated to the private individuals so this is the basic philosophy of capitalism inspired by Adam Smith right what about communism see this capitalism and communism these are polar opposite philosophies and we cannot identify any country which is either following completely capitalism or completely communism right but for a sake of
Clarity we consider these two things as a polar opposite Concepts right communism talks about Community ownership right it talks about Community ownership and it says that people should give contribution to the social relationship as per their capability and they should appropriate the resources as per their need right
But as I already told you that there is no such country which is completely following capitalism and which is completely following communism so countries lies between these two polar opposite philosophies right some countries can be more capitalist than others some countries can more communist than others right okay in between these
Two polar opposite idea socialism came into picture right and this communism is based upon Marx ideology or Marxist ideology right socialism talks about equality or absence of of inequality and to create a just Society right how because in the capitalism if there is a private appropriation of the resources it creates
Inequality because people accumulate the property and because of these accumulation of property they get some advantageous position and later on this advantageous position gives them more privileges right so that is why it creates inequality in the society socialism on the contrary it talks about equality or absence of inequality and it
Talks about just Society right so it is in between this capitalism and socialism right India accepted this socialist concept right so people were given resources as per their need plus as per their contribution to the social relationship ship or the society so this appropriation of the resources was the
Culmination of capitalism and the communism right so resources will be allocated to the people in socialist setup as per the need as well as as per their contribution to the society right and majority of the resources will be controlled by the government itself right so this is the basic socialist
Philosophy this socialism can be adopted into two ways one is socialism as a means and another is socialism as ends right what do means all the resources are controlled by government itself initially India adopted this model socialism as means as well as socialism as an end right later on on after
1990s when India adopted LPG reforms right India discarded this socialism as means because we wanted to create wealth so that is why we adopted socialism as an end policy how for example India or Indian government or central government or state governments as well they are providing vage employment to the people
For example mg Nara they are providing food subsidies to the people without any expectation from the people directly right so they are creating a just Society or they are moving towards a just Society just by redistributing the resources right so they are expecting socialism as an end or but
They are not using socialism as means policy why because they are allowing private individual to appropriate the resources right so this is socialism second word which was added with the help of 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act was secular in a narrower sense secular means separation of religion from the Affairs of of the
State right but this is a narrower definition why let me give you a practical example for that upsc in 2019 asked a question in Gs paper one in the name of secularism we are losing cultural elements so if this concept secularism is something which is related with the religion and state how come
Cultural elements is disturbing all are getting obliterated from our society right so that is why we need a more holistic definition of secularism how okay let’s suppose this is a timeline and I’m not saying that modernity came to a particular point it’s a phase of history in which we saw
The modernity or change in the society but for a sake of understanding let’s suppose this is the point at which modernity came right before which traditional societies were there and after which elements of modernity came into the society right in these traditional societies Had A peculiar nature what in every public
Sphere of Life religion was the central feature how for example education education was governed by religion religious instructions were taught in the educational in institutions for example gurukul or Guru shisha parampara in traditional Indian Society but after modernity this gurukul parara was transformed into secular educational institutions we also talk about secularization
Of cast system right why earlier cast system was governed by religious principles but now there’s very little significance of religion in terms of cast relations right so to make Clarity if religion is no more the central feature of any public sphere of life this is called secularism ISM right
Secularism is when religion is no more the central feature of other public sphere of life this is called secularism right so this was the second term which was added in the 42nd Constitutional Amendment act the third word or earlier it was Unity of the nation Unity of nation and this Unity of
Nation was changed to Unity and Integrity of nation how these two things are different okay let’s Suppose there are different diverse set of people right and they are creating a collective consigns they these diverse people are creating Collective consigns this is called Unity even after this diversity they are creating Collective conscience
This is called Unity what about Integrity there is a already Collective conscience and it this Collective conscience is prohibiting people from any kind of deviation so this is called Integrity so you may have heard about this thing like some people are uh following whistleblower in a particular government institution and
Because of this whistleblower thing institutional Integrity can be lost right so this is the this is the difference between Unity of nation and unity and integrity of the nation right these were the three changes which were done with the help of 42nd Constitutional Amendment act right let’s understand some of the views of
Constitutional experts on our Preamble first one is Sir aladi Krishna Swami Ayer he was a member of uh drafting committee or draft Committee of our constituent assembly and he said that our Preamble reflects dreams and aspirations of India or newly developed newly created India right Kiam Muni he was also member of
Constituent assembly and he said he named Preamble as horoscope of India’s Sovereign Democratic Republic M hullah he was a ex-chief Justice of India and he stated that Preamble is a soul of Constitution and it is also a blueprint of Nations political Society right what are the ingredients of Preamble first is it
Talks about the source of authority of the Constitution as we have already seen we the people of India we the people of India having all the Sovereign power in our hand and we are giving authority to our constitution right second talks about nature of Indian State what are the
Nature of Indian what is the nature of Indian state it is Sovereign socialist secular Democratic and Republic right it also talks about the objective of the Constitution objectives of the Constitution means we want to provide Justice we want to provide Liberty we want to provide equality and
We also want to maintain the fraternity among the people right and it also talks about the date of adoption of the Constitution and which is the major point of contention at this juncture how Supreme Court is asking whether the Amendment of the Constitution or Amendment of the Preamble should be done
Without altering the date of adoption of the constitution in the Preamble itself that was 26th November 1949 right let’s talk about the amenability of the Preamble so there was a case that was re beu Bari case 1960 right this re signifies reference so this was a reference case under
Article 143 of the Indian constitution in which president can seek reference from the Supreme Court right so this re means reference case then in this re berubari case 1960 Supreme Court held that Preamble of Indian constitution is not a part of constitution right but it is helpful in
Understanding the minds and views of the Constitution makers right in this reari case that is Quan and bharti case Quan and bharti case means Kwan and bharti versus state of Kerala 1973 in this case Supreme Court argued that Preamble is a part of Preamble is the part of Indian constitution it can
Be amended with the help of article 36 68 of Indian constitution right so Preamble was not supposed to be part of Indian constitution in reari case but later in quanan bharti case Supreme Court accepted that Preamble is a part of Indian constitution right and we can amend the Preamble with the help of
Article 368 right but this amendment should not abrogate the basic structure of the Indian constitution right so there is a basic structure and that should not be amended that should not be altered or changed with any Constitutional Amendment act as described in the kand bharati case currently there is a subramaniam case
And he is seeking to change the word secular and socialist or he want to remove these words secular and socialist from the Preamble itself Justice deepankar data he questioned whether the Preamble could have been amended while retaining the original date of adoption or not so this is the
Case this was the observation of Supreme Court and later we’ll see what would be the decision by the Supreme Court next article is mandal Mand and now Market this article is discussing about three important personalities to whom we are going to accord or to whom we are going to give
Confer Bharat ratna award that is the highest civilian award in India and their contribution to India’s economy politics and Society right why this is important because of post Independence history India okay let’s understand send the context first central government has decided to confer bhat tatna award to three people
Important people one is former prime minister PV narsimha second is cha Charan Singh he was also former prime minister as well as the Green Revolution Pioneer Ms Swami Natan so let’s have some o overall idea about these three personalities Swami Natan he was agricultural scientist and agronomist
And he played instrumental role in Green Revolution and towards food self-sufficiency in India he was the father of he was also accorded as or regarded as father of Green Revolution in India PB Nimar he was credited with steering liberalization of Indian economy in his government we shifted
Towards or we accepted LPG reforms CH Charan Singh was the person who set up mundle commission for OBC reservation in IND India so he was the first person who recognized the importance of OBC reservation he understand the underlying uh inequality in the Hindu Society right so let’s have some brief
Idea about bhat ratna this was instituted in 1954 the exact year remembering exact year is not important for our upsc examination but you have to think that this award was instituted just after the independence right initially the criteria for giving this award was Art literature science and public service
Later on in 20 2011 one more criteria was added any field of human endeavor to this list right the recommendation for Bharat ratna award is given by prime minister to the president and president will give to the award to respective person right and you will be amazed that this award
Is not having any kind of monetary benefits but just to give a highest civilian award or just to give a Prestige to that person that he has contributed to our society or that person has contributed to our society so it this award includes certificate people Leaf shaped metal and no monetary
Benefits right but there’s a very strong incentive for bhat ratna award and that is order of presidence bhat ratna recipient ranks seventh in the Indian order of presidents right so let’s have a brief understanding or the contribution of these three personalities first Ms Swami Nan India inherited poverty from
Britishers and there were two basic reasons for this poverty lack of development in agriculture sector and lack of development in Industries right and what was the reason and also this poverty is also because of uh this lack of development in agriculture and Industry so there was uh two-way relationship between
These poverty and lack of development right what was the reason behind poor development of Agriculture first was too much dependency over traditional forms of Agriculture second prolonged exploitation by britishers or colonial rule and third lack of capital so these were the three basic reasons behind poor development of
Agriculture and because of this poor development in agriculture there were certain repercussions first repercussion we could not feed our population this was the biggest problem second because of because of lack of food security we could not witness demographic transition because when a Society cannot ensure food security for its population It
Ultimately increase the mortality rate and once mortality rate increases people used to procreate more children and that is why we were very poor in terms of demographic indicators and because of all these factors we had to rely on certain foreign AIDS and this was most humiliating for
India as a nation right and because of all these factors we could not provide skilled labor to Industry once agriculture developed then the Surplus labor will go to the IND industry sector right so that is why we could not develop the industry as well right how Swami Natan contributed this
He gave technological solution to agricultural problems he came up with high yield variety seeds which replaced traditional seeds right and because of this high yield variety seeds the agricultural production increased multifood right and that is why it introduced modernization of agriculture in Indian Society because of this modernization of agriculture in Indian
Society we also saw self-sufficiency in food grain production right so it increased food it ensured food security it increased food production it also decreased our dependency over other foreign AIDS right also it also empowered people and it reduced the poverty right we have seen the connection between Agriculture and
Poverty and because of which we also saw rural development because at that time who were the farmers it was the middle class or middle clast who are the real farmers and because of this poverty alleviation because of this increase in food production and increase in the agriculture production or productivity
We saw middle clast rise in the or middle class increased its presence in rurals right so this food security also alleviated India from any kind kind of humiliation how the dependency on foreign Nations for foreign food grain needs was resolved for example India earlier was depending upon the US PL 480
Schemes and because of which India faced multiple times humiliation right so this was the contribution of M Ms Swami Natan now let’s have a look over PV Nimar Ra’s contribution PV Nimar inherited three major things one is Bop crisis that is balance of payment crisis second extremism in extremism and
Vulnerability of Western India specifically in Punjab and third is the global politics shifted more towards unilateralism or uni po World uni poolar world the international relation were shifted more towards unipolar World why because of disintegration of USSR now USA was the only superpower at the global level
Right so this was the problems that PV nimara faced during his uh regime or during his tenure and he has given beautiful solutions to all these three problems how firstly he departed from traditional socialist economic policies and he accepted more Market oriented reform and he introduced the LPG reforms in
India second through which we could address the balance of payment crisis also USC was more interested in capitalism and he forced many times India to adopt LPG era and that is how he was able to appease USA at this front right third is foreign policy of course so it was the era in
Which we saw unipolar world and because of this post Cold War era he developed or he accepted or he established new diplomatic relationship with USA and China right also ra inherited a challenging situation in Punjab which had been grappling with militancy for years he negotiated with moderate sick leaders
And address some of the legitimate demands of siik community this political resolution played a crucial role in ending the militancy right what about Chri Charan Singh he was also ex prime minister and he had a very crucial and important role in rural development Farmers welfare and obesy reservation how so he
Introduced many agricultural reforms and farmer welfare initiatives during his tenure for example up jamidar and land reforms act 1952 was introduced by Charan Singh aimed to strike a moral blow at the landlord class by implementing land reforms that would Empower tenants and Tiller of the soil second he Exempted fertilizers from
Sales tax he Exempted the land revenue for Farmers owning land up to three and right he also was in favor of social justice and that is why he understood the underlying unjust structure of Hindu Society so he recognized OBC community and he saw that they were not the sc’s
They were not the SDS but they were not also privileged class so that is why he recognized and he established mundle Commission in 1979 which became the base or infrastructure for further OBC reservation next article is fugitives will be extradited says finance minister who are fugitives the people who has
Departed from India and against whom arrest warrant has been issued by some competent court and this court has designated that person as fugitive so those persons will be called as fugitives now Finance Minister and our law enforcement agencies are trying to bring those fugitives back to India
Why this is important under GS paper 2 we have act such as fugitives economic Offenders Act 2018 also we have extradition treaty that can be asked under GS paper 2 also in Gs paper 3 these fugitives have a very profound impact negative in negative sense profound impact on Indian
Economy so that is why this article is important for us previously upsc has asked such type of question related to such type of crimes and all uh for example they have asked prohibition of benami property transaction Act 1988 in 2017 so that is why this article becomes very important
For us what is the context there are fugitive offenders Vijay Malia n Modi Sanjay bandari and those people should be extradited to India right so that is why Finance Minister said on Friday discussion on white paper that has been submitted by Finance Minister earlier and she’s saying or
Claiming that India is now working more hard on taking back those fugitive economic offenders to India back so we have already discussed who are fugitive economic offenders against whom the arrest warrant has been issued by competent court and they have departed from India with the intention of of
Evading any kind of criminal prosecution right so what are the legal Provisions for that so there is an act fugitive economic Offenders Act 2018 the major aim of this act to confiscate properties of those economic offenders so that money can be recovered or the losses can be compensated by this confiscation of the
Properties right this act also defines the The Fugitive economic offenders as the person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for committing crime or offense that are listed in this particular act what are those offenses we’ll be discussing but those crime should be worth of value at least 100 CR
So these three things are important for prelims point of view the some of the offenses that are listed in this act are counterfeiting government STS or currency second check dishonor third money laundering and transactions defrauding creditors right so these are some of the offenes which are listed
Under this article right who can decare a fugitive economic offender so under prevention of moneya laundering act 2002 under this act special courts should be created or has been created right and now these special courts have power of civil court these courts can designate a particular person as fugitive economic
Offenders right and these courts can order for the confiscation of the properties right under this act the search and seizure of persons and premises has been given to that particular civil court or that special court right and there is a provisional attachment of properties is allowed while the application is pending before
The special court right along with these Provisions there’s also specific or peculiar provision to Bar these people or the as or the entities which are associated with these people on filing or defending civil claims how the ACT allows civil courts or tribunals to prohibit a declared fugitive economic
Offender from filing or defending any civil claim also the companies or llps limited liability partnership where such individuals hold majority shares may also be debarred from filing or defending civil claims right there are certain other legal Provisions through which we are trying to curve this these type of economic offenses such as pmla
Prevention of money laundering act benami properties transaction Act 1988 and third is company act 2013 which punishes fraud and unlawful acceptance of deposits apart from these IC and crpc also have certain Provisions but apart from these provisions and laws we also have a provision of extradition what is extradition let’s suppose this is
Country India and there’s another country let’s suppose this is b a person X has committed crime in India and flew away to B if India and B has extradition treaty B will send back this x to India and vice versa is there right so there is an ex Indian extradition act
1962 which regulates any kind of extradition with some other foreign countries right India has currently extradition treaties with almost 40 countries extradition agreements with 11 countries and this act is also defining the extradition treaty right section 2D of the Indian extradition act 1962 defines extradition treaty as The
Binding agreement made by India with a foreign country or foreign State concerning the extradition of fugitive criminals right there are three basic principles this act is following first is principle of dual criminality second is prime of fa case and third is fair tribe so India and
B if both countries are agreed on a particular crime and they are recognizing this crime as a crime or this act as a crime a particular act as a crime then it comes under principle of dual criminality right so this act is adhering to principle of dual criminality
Ensuring the offense is recognized in both the requesting and requested countries right second is let’s suppose India is asking for a person to extra right from B to a India right so this requested Country Must find a primy case against the offender right or the courts in the requested country should find a
Prima AC case against the X person right and third is in any case accused is entitled for fair trial so so if country is asking India to extradite a person why let’s suppose so if India is sure that free trial is or can be insured in case of why then only India can
Extradite that person to a particular country who is the nodal Authority for this or this whole extradition purpose Consular passport and Visa division under the ministry of external Affairs s as the noal authority and they are administering the extradition act next article is India can purchase natural
Gas at below market price this article is talking about India energy week this is an event which is going on in Goa and India’s petroleum secretary is asserting that India now can purchase Natural Gas below than international market price how now we are going to diversify our International Imports okay why this
Natural gas oil import or energy is important for us because of three basic reasons one is economic reason because of geographical location because of its geographical feature India is not well worth of energy sources in terms of oil and coal right so that is why we have to rely on
Imports oil imports and natural gas Imports right and it is creating burden on our import that is why it is creating current account deficit it’s a basic major source fundamental source of current account deficit right second thing is this current this economy is fueled by energy sources itself so if we
Maintain our energy sources if we have continuity in our energy sources we can ensure long-term as well as sustained growth right second thing is strategic in case of any volatility in the international Arena specifically to those regions which are providing the oil or natural gases we see fluctuation
In the prices of o oil and natural gases and that is why it becomes very strategic for India’s development also there is a concept known as Asian premium the OPEC countries OPEC is a organization or cartle for those countries who are major producer of oil and natural gases so they are charging
More to Asian countries in comparison to European or American countries right so this is the Asian premium and this is also having strategic significance for India third is environmental energy is directly related with envirment if we cut our energy production or if we cut our energy consumption it will hamper
Our development but if we increase our energy consumption it will definitely affect our environment also it is going to impact our I DC that is nationally determined contribution for Paris agreement right so that is why from these three point of view energy oil import and natural gas import is
Important why this is important for upsc examination there’s a topic in Gs paper 3 energy economic growth environmental pollution and degradation that is directly related to this topic let’s understand the importance of this concept or this issue from previous year question point of view in Main’s examination 2013 upsc asked this
Question it is said that India has substantial reserves of shale oil and gas which can feed the need of country for quarter Century however tapping of these resources does not appear to be high on the agenda discuss critically the availability and issue involved in prelims also upsc asked this question
Consider the following statements natural gas occurs in gondwana BS MAA occurs in abundance in Koda and dwa are famous for petroleum so you can see this energy or oil or natural gas it’s important for both prelims as well as Ms what is context as we have already discussed Secretary of Ministry of
Petrolum and natural gas it highlighted India’s Rising role as Global energy demand Center how currently India is the third largest in terms of energy consumption after China and USA and current share or Global share is 6.1% and it is expected to rise to 99.8% by 2050 and by that time India will
Become largest energy consumer in the world right also when you see natural gas in India’s Energy Mix natural gas contribution is almost 6.7% and India is trying to increase it to 15% by 2030 right that is why natural gas is coming more and more in the news right creating opportunities for the country
To secure natural gas at competitive prices internationally right so let’s come to Basics natural gas it’s highly flamable gas it’s a mixture of gas but mostly it is methane that is CH4 it’s a chemical formula for methane right so it’s a flammable gas mixture primarily methane more than
90% how do we extract and produce natural gas so you see it is found alongside the oil regions so whenever we find any oil region natural gas is find or can be found alongside the oil regions right and the method of extraction is known as as mostly known
As fracking what is fracking it’s a hydraulic fracturing the full form of fracking is hydraulic fracturing along with fracking we can also use H cut we can use horizontal drilling as well right what are the applications first as a fuel we can use second as a chemical Feld stock
We can use third Heating and cooking fuel it can be used to create or generate electricity when we compress natural gas it becomes CNG compressed natural gas and it can be used for vehicles as well UA or other fertilizers are being made with the help of CH4 or methane or
Natural gas right and also it can be used for cooking as we see in the city we use or we consume natural gas right how it is important in energy transition in India mostly we rely on coal and oil specifically petroleum and petrol and Diesel right these sources are not
Renewable and it can exhaust in upcoming years right also it is polluting right methane or natural gas is more environmental friendly in comparison to these sources how when we we oxidize this thing it comes CO2 plus H2O right it makes CO2 and H2 these are less polluting firstly secondly it is
Not creating any carbon shoot or any black carbon right so that is why it is less polluting than these resources right so it’s a cleaner energy form right also it is working as a bridge fuel how so there is a in intermittency in terms of renewable energies how let’s suppose wind wind is
A renewable energy or renewable form of energy but there are two seasons one is abundant season and second is lean season sometimes wind energy can be produced with the help of wind abundantly right but sometimes we find that there is a less availability of wind that is capable enough to create
Wind energy also when we talk about solar energy in daytime solar energy is favorable but what about during nights it’s not favorable so while these kind of transition can be done with the help of methane or natural gas right there’s also economic factors because it contributes to energy security and
Economic grain how it is helpful in producing plastic and organic products such as Ura or other fertilizers right okay but what are the challenges firstly the most important is environmental impact though it is not creating much polluting substances but it is also creating CO2 which has certain greenhouse gas effect also if we
See methane leakage this methane is almost 8200 times more potent than CO2 or carbon dioxide and it is also creating ghg effect right so that is why it is also a matter of concern but it’s not that much important as comparison to coal and oil that is why it’s it becomes very
Important for our energy transition how prices are being discovered or how prices are managed in India as far as natural gas is concerned so there are two types of gases one is domestic gas the domestic production that we can see in this diagram that this Gujarat Bombay hbin Andhra Pradesh Assam and tripura
These are the natural gas producer states in India so there are certain States or some states which are producing domestic Ally right and we are also importing natural gas from other countries as well so for domestic gas there are two sub mechanism one is administered price mechanism that is
APM this mechanism is used for all those units or all those areas where we have already discovered gases and we are extracting from those reservoirs right and government is directly finalizing the ceiling amount and the base amount for the natural gas prices this production sharing contract is for those
Units to which we haven’t discovered yet or we are yet to discover the natural gases and in these fields the prices are linked with oil prices or International oil prices right not the international gas prices but International oil prices right what about imported gas there are
Two sub mechanism one is spot prices and another is long-term contracts spot prices are those like for example if we have to manage short-term availability of natural gases we are using spot prices so on the spot we are uh discovering the prices and we are purchasing and we are supplying it to
Internal or domestic uses and another is long-term contracts some countries or to some units we are having some long-term contracts and we are on the basis of those long contracts we are purchasing natural gas there’s another concept which is known as pooling of gas see the prices of natural gas is
Very volatile in international market to prevent this volatility or to prevent any misadventure because of this vola ility in the international market and to protect our domestic consumers what we are doing we are mixing these two gases we are mixing these two gases we are creating pooling of gases and we are
Ensuring continuous Supply to domestic consumption so that prices can be administered right so this is pooling of gas the most important comes here how we can secure our Natural Gas ort at competitive prices internationally so there are four basic ways one is long-term contracts how so we have to
Come up with some long-term contracts with some units or some fields or some countries right so negotiating agreements with natural gas producing countries for stable pricing over extended periods right second is we need to diversify our import basket right the sourcing natural gas from multiple countries to reduce dependency on any
Single supplier right third is participation in international consortia that is joining or forming consorti for exploration and production to access the gas at production cost and fourth is Strategic investment we need to invest more like LG Terminals and pipelines abroad for secure supplies and potential Price benefits next article is bids in
Pieces this art talks about bilateral investment treaty what is this bilateral investment treaty so let’s Suppose there are two countries A and B and they are having a bilateral investment treaty through this bilateral investment treaty or bit they are ensuring or they are promot and protecting investment of other countries
By some entities such as individual or companies for example if a company X of country B wants to invest in country a so this bit will protect its investment or investment done by company X in the country a right so this is bit bilateral investment treaty this bit has
Or India has a very bitter experience with these bits how before 2016 India had many bits with many countries or bilateral investment treaty with many countries and these bit had three major issues one was inverted Duty structure lack of for sightedness and third increase in cases or economic cases under
Judiciary that increased burden of Judiciary how what is this inverted Duty structure the taxes on final product is lesser than the taxes on the input so what H what was happening let’s Suppose there was a country X and India signed a bilateral investment treaty with this x
Now X is exporting raw materials to India as well as finished good right and the tax on finished good was lesser than the tax on raw material so India could not develop industry in this case and this is called inverted Duty structure there were also lack of foresightedness because these bits were
Not able to handle any kind of tax evasions for example vone case and third is it increased because of lack of conflict resolution mechanism or robust conflict resolution mechanism it increased cases in Indian Judiciary or Judicial System why this is important because bilateral investment treaty this article is talking about bilateral
Investment treaty also it is important for India’s Economic Development okay let’s understand the context the Finance Minister nirmala sitaraman announced during the interim budget Union budget that India plans to negotiate bilateral investment treaties to attract more for foreign direct investment what is BT bit we have already these are the agreements between
Two countries to promote and protect investment in each other’s territories by individuals and companies India initiated bits in mid90s with the aim of providing favorable condition and treaty based protection to foreign investors right so let’s see the evolution of bits in India first signed with UK or United
Kingdom on March 14 1994 date is not important but important and the country is important for prelims point of view attention to the bit regime increased in 2010 with the settlement of first investor treaty claim against India in 2011 India faed its first adverse award in dispute arising from Australia India B
Then model bit in 2016 came into picture but this has also issues what we’ll see due to challenges and disputes that we have already discussed three major issues were there India adopted model bit 2016 and terminated 68 out of 74 existing treaties and this was supposed
To be or this was considered as a protectionist measures by other countries and companies and this was a very harsh setback on India’s Economic Development or FDI what how it has created challenges and how it impacted so negotiating with other countries especially regarding dispute settlement has proven difficult
Leading to a decline in FDI Equity inflows FDI equity inflows in India declined by 24% to 2.48 billion in April September 2023 now what are the proposed challenges in this article itself the proposed FDA or foreign trade agreement aims to address challenges to dispute risk settlement so we have to work on
These three parts how to resolve the how to avoid any kind of inverted Duty structure and how to avoid tax evasion in these treaties right by providing a mechanism for timely resolution through International arbitration right so this International arbitration is important apart from that timely resolution is
Also important why see India’s rank in ease of contract enforcement is low standing 163 out of 190 so that is why we need timely resolution of cases or such type of cases so that we can increase FDI inflow in India in 2021 the Parliamentary standing committee on external Affairs recommended revisiting
The existing it regime and recommendations include timely dispute settlements through pre-arbitration consultations development of local expertise in investment arbitration and alignment with the global best practices right so we need to train our Judiciary as well so that it can improve the adjudication okay it is crucial to implement committee’s recommendation to
Enhance India’s standing and encourage robust international trade and stable Investments conclusion a progressive approach to bits is deemed crucial for India’s pursuit of five trillion economy emphasizing the importance of timely dispute resolution and alignment with global best so far we have discussed all the important articles which were important for today’s discussion now
Let’s do some practice questions so the first question is consider the following statements about natural gas natural gas is primarily composed osed of butane no this is wrong statement is majorly composed of methane it has higher Cal value than petroleum correct burning natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than burning
Petroleum and coal this is also correct so two and three B part would be correct answer consider the following statements about Preamble of Indian constitution it mention the date of adoption adopting the Constitution as January 26 1950 this is wrong 26 November 1949 Preble of the Constitution can be
Amended any number of times and in its entirety no it cannot this any Amendment cannot abrogate basic structure right so this is also incorrect statement Preamble of the Constitution is justifiable and one can seek the intervention of Judiciary it’s not justifiable so all of the statement are
Incorrect so D part would be the correct answer next question is regarding the natural gas pricing mechanism in India consider the following statements the administered price mechanism sets the prices for natural gas produced from the fields of multinational corporation operating in India no this is incorrect National companies National corporations
Operating in India such as IU and all so this is incorrect statement under produ under production sharing contract p G C’s gas pricing is linked to global crude oil prices that is correct which often results in higher prices compared to APM gas this is also correct gas pooling mechanism is employed to average
The domestic and imported gas for non priority sector no priority sector such as uh domestic use or uh fertilizers so this is incorrect statement how many are which of the statements given above is are not correct so answer question is asking about not correct to one and three is
Not correct so answer would be C part consider the following statements on fugitive economic Offenders Act 2018 the ACT empowers authorities toate the property of economic offenders who evade prosecution by leaving the country say correct only High courts can officially label someone a fugitive only high court
Is not correct answer but but uh special codes special codes Under pmla prevention of moneya laundering act are authorized to label someone as economic offender of course High Court can also do this thing Court can also label some person but it’s not the only high court
But also the special courts so this is incorrect uh statement correct would be first one only let’s do some main practice question examine the contribution of chi Chan Singh In shaping post Independence India so if it is asking about post Independence India we have to stick to the phase after
1947 and contribution like agriculture contribution in Agricultural Development or rural development Farmers welfare and social justice should be there with a focus on agricultural reform rural development and social justice so briefly we need to introduce about Chri Charan Singh and then we have to explain the agricultural
Reforms that are were brought by the Chri Charan Singh like upar and land reforms act abolition of landlordism and empowerment of tenants rural development initiative such as graman movement social justice policies such as upliftment of backward classes specifically the mundle commission and consolidation and reorganization impact that is agricultural reforms and rural
Development initiatives in conclusion we can emphasize the enduring impact of his policies on agricultural practices rural development and social justice contributing to the broader theme of consolidation and reorganization within the country so through this we are concluding today’s discussion if you like our initiative please like share and subscribe thank you so much
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